Xezo Fountain Pens - General Verdict?

[JayKay3000]

Hey There.

 

This 'brand' / seller Xezo caught my eye as they make - I'm sorry, they have pens commissioned from unknown manufactures then label them Xezo. They all take standard international cartridges and have all been well rated by anyone who has done a review of one such as bestfountainpen.com, penhabit, sbebrown and a lengthy article here on fpn https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/262547-xezo-maestro-review/ - not to mention every website that sells these pens gives them mostly five star ratings from reviews.

 

Another user asked this same question https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/319418-italixxezo-pens/?hl=xezo

 

Are these pens really that good, is there no one with negative feedback and are these pens re-brands / refreshes of existing models?

 

I was caught initially by their mestro sea shell and even more taken when I noticed they had the same pen with silver accents and a few of their other models look appealing. There is an allure to their claimed limited edition sales pitch, but I like to know a bit about who I'm buying from and details about the company are difficult to find. It sounds silly perhaps that I like to have some connection to a company / brand when buying something that costs more than just loose change even if it's fictitious marketing spiel.

 

 

 

So fountain pen fans. What's the general verdict? Has anyone owned and used a pen from this company for a couple of years or longer and hows it holding up?

 

What of the company. I found it really hard to find any concrete information about them. Formed in 2001 and that's about it. Who makes their pens, where they are made and where their company is based is a mystery.

 

I can't see myself ever buying one, but some real world use stories might help others and if you've had many good years of service out of your pen post it here too.

[Inkling13]

I would say they are either kit pens or a small time company making them out of China. I have never heard of them, and would consider them in the $5 category of pens, considering they take international carts.

[Bluey]

Nice looking pens, naff generic nib, overpriced.

[Ted A]

There’s a Pen Habit review from a couple of years ago

http://penhabit.com/2016/03/08/pen-review-xezo-legionnaire/

[Ghost Plane]

I owned a couple of the mother of pearl varieties many many years ago. They were seriously heavy and the craftsmanship was actually quite good. Alas, the steel nibs wrote like the proverbial nail and nib sizes were restricted to F and M. For someone who doesn't mine a generic nib, they're not bad. Pricey for what you get, but not bad.

[Tweel]

...they have pens commissioned from unknown manufactures then label them Xezo.

 

Another user asked this same question http://www.fountainp...o-pens/?hl=xezo

 

What of the company. I found it really hard to find any concrete information about them. Formed in 2001 and that's about it. Who makes their pens, where they are made and where their company is based is a mystery.

 

As I mentioned in the thread linked to above, Sepia Products Inc., a pen manufacturer in Taiwan, has said that they're a supplier to Xezo.

 

Information about Xezo is sort of hard to find, I guess because it's privately owned, but entire minutes of digging around with Google turned up this: It's in Sugar Land, Texas, and seems to be primarily a one-man show, the one man being named Yevgeny Genin. If you can believe an advertising agency that worked for him, he dreams up the products then contracts manufacturers to make them. Actually, the primary company seems to be Galsem Incorporated, with sub-companies or brands existing under that umbrella, including Xezo and something called Xemel LLC. Another one called Desaliron LLC seems to have been sued for debt, possibly lost its license, and in any event folded. In the case of Xezo, Yevgeny Genin is "Manager". In the case of Xemel, he's Director, President, Secretary and Treasurer.

Edited March 3, 2018 by Tweel

[sub_bluesy]

I have two mestro sea shell models. One of them, like the pen pictured with gold trim, is actually sn 001 for 2016. I like the pen overall and the sea shell is finished very well. They are heavy though. There's some odd things about the pen that do bug me. The cap is etched 18Kt gold plated. They really seem to be hung up on this gold plated thing and I don't know why. The metal is also clear coated but it's not exactly perfect. There's some hairline scratches in the earlier pen I got. The second with the wreath engraving is a much better built pen and doesn't have the same hairline issues. If you have a choice of getting the pen with a wreath or the smooth finished metal, get the wreath. I had an issue with some of the clear coat wearing on the finial on my first maestro. Xezo did sent me a replacement finial very quickly based on just a picture of the flaw. If you like sea shell pens, this one is a good pick up and worth buying in my opinion. Xezo customer service was also very helpful.

[dadbar]

I have one of their rollerball pens in the "Architect" style (3rd from the left in the photo above). The pen has immaculate fit and finish and looks MUCH better in real life than the photo shows (mine has chrome trim). I use it for clients and for occasional business trips. It gets noticed.

 

Not sure I would buy a fountain pen from them- when it comes to those, I only buy vintage anyway, As a rollerball, though, it is a killer pen.

[sharonspens]

I just received the Architect in an FP - Christmas gift. I had never heard of them, so I am glad to see a posting on it. They did seem create some confusion for my friend - she ordered the pen and asked them ship it direct to me as a gift. The company was quite confused about sending it to a different address, and they definitely couldn't figure out that they shouldn't send me the receipt with the pen. I had to call them to verify who sent the pen.

 

I haven't cleaned it yet, so I am not ready to discuss its writing ability.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[kits_Red]

I purchased 2 a gold abalone maestro and the platinum seashell maestro (1 year difference and ends just a different color metal). The gold one is overall great, if you flash a light to enjoy the abalone as I did you can see a little haze like some dust or something got stuck between the clear coat layers. Not much but its there. However Its a beautiful and heavy weighted pen. The platinum first off it came used when I purchased a new pen so had issues with that, dried ink in the nib and converter that was already installed. A dry glob of black ink in the converter and the nib was clogged. The nib itself looked like the slit in the tines had either dried brownish black ink or it was rusted in the slit area, not good. Then the reason I ultimately returned it the cap near the threads end has the plated platinum ring. Yea that was not fitted properly, you could see the brass underneath by about 2 millimetres if it was gold it may blend just enough to pass but platinum then a brass under ring area exposed well it just looked like (bleep). And in exploring it more I saw it had 2 scratches I'm the clear coat as well(not sure if whoever returned it did it or if it came from online store like that) in any event the second one looking past the clogged mess and scratches and mismatched ring fitment it was also very pretty and weighted (it did not have the extra detail around the cap piece, the gold had gold leaves engraved the platinum didn't) I do wish it was not a messed up pen because I would have kept it had it not been so messed up. I wish the seller would have sent me a new pen that I purchased. The other pen is doing great, its a smooth writer and everyone loves the abalone, and well so do i. It is a bit pricey for what you get there are some comparable pens that are less expensive.  

[kits_Red]

I forgot the grip is a cheap plastic grip. All the rest of the xezo appears to be nice and a heavy weighted pen that grip is a miss on that pen. It should have had a better grip end piece to finish the pen.

[RusselMcDonald]

I've had the Xezo Trubune and the Legionnaire for over a year now, and I have something odd to report.

First, I find the Tribune of solid beautiful quality and the nib smooth, but the Legionnaire is a bit gaudy for my taste (I hope my wife never sees this as they were both a gift from her). And as others have noted they are heavy pens, which I don't mind. 

 

And here is the odd part. I draw with my fountain pens. I have Waterman Carenes, 2 Pilot Falcons, a Pilot Customer 912, Sailor 19ll Ls, Lamys, TWSBI ECOs, etc. All EF when available. I'm always looking for that next really extra fine line producing nib that is as well smooth. A tall order to fill I know....needle point but minimized scratchy-ness. It then allows for very fine hatch marks while at the same time being smooth enough to not let the contours of the paper force my nib to follow those contours. Think drawing intricate parts of an eye.

 

OK thanks for bearing with that. Here is the odd part. One day, I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I pulled out the Legionnaire, perhaps because it was the only pen that had Waterman Serenity blue in it. The Legionnaire is my only medium nib pen. It writes VERY fat lines. So I turned the pen upside down and wrote with nib upside down...and it produced the finest line of ALL of my other fountain pens! I could not believe it. I practiced it over and over, even switched out to 2 other inks...same thing. Something about the contour of the nib on the backside. I'm theorizing that it's related to the back side producing a wider angle to get to the point, whereas say Sailor 19ll L EF is a very sharp angle to the point, so dives deeper in to the paper which then absorbs more ink. Even if I ever so lightly rest the Sailor on the paper, upside down, it still produces yes a VERY fine line but one with saturated ink...it's a very nice flow of ink so darker. But the Xezo medium wider surface may spread out the ink thinner and not dig in to the paper as much. Not sure but I just know it produces a finer line and flow of ink which is better for hatch marks/shading.

 

Now as mentioned I find the Legionnaire a bit gaudy, so I found that I could switch out that nib with that of the Xezo Tribune which had a fine nib. Did that and voila....my best drawing pen.  I'll be purchasing another, with medium nib. As for who makes the nib...Trying to find that out myself which led me here. Thanks for the post.

 

Edited September 15, 2022 by RusselMcDonald